Moon Over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool

This one wasn't on my TBR list for this week, but I've had it around for a while and I grabbed it while packing for our weekend. I picked up Moon Over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool because she is one of the authors coming to Kaleidoscope in the fall. Books like this amaze me: this is the author's only book, and it has received at least seven awards. It is a really great book!

Here's a great summary, found on Random House:

When Abilene’s father puts her on a train headed for his boyhood home in Manifest, Kansas, she is none to happy, but her unhappiness turns to downright disappointment and abandonment when she gets off the train in a dried-up, worn-out old town.  But all is not as bad as it seems when Abilene discovers some old letters and trinkets in a cigar box hidden under the floor in her room.  The letters hint at a spy named the Rattler who lives in Manifest and that sets Abilene and her friends on spy hunt, leading them to talk to the mysterious Miss Sadie who lives down the Path to Perdition and discovering the well-kept secrets of Manifest.   On the surface, none of theses secrets have anything to do with her father and everyone in Manifest is hiding something about her dad from her.  What she discovers will heal her family and the town of a wound inflicted long ago.

It was interesting to read this book while at a family reunion where stories were shared of our own history.

As much as I needed to hear her story, she had a need to tell it. It was as if the story was the only balm the provided any comfort. (page 154)

This book is amazing. The further I got into it the more hooked I was. It would be a great book for a book club discussion. I loved how the story all came together in the end to provide closure for so many in the story. I am not surprised this book has won all the awards it has. It is terrific!


3/58